It was a Stop at a Lake
by Kyoshu Koi
Summary: Semi-AU It was a blistering hot day, so everyone - mostly everyone - decides to stop at the lake and cool down. One Shot


Kankuro was getting annoyed. Why, of all people, did he have to be arguing with _Sakura_? "It doesn't matter if it's hot," he said, trying to keep back to urge to fan himself, "We need to get back in time for the festival, or Tsunade-sama's going to have all out asses on a silver platter."

The pinkette growled stomping her foot, "No! We're getting dehydrated and have no water left."

"We're only five hours away."

"Not everyone it accustomed to heat like you and your siblings. I saved your life, do you not trust me?"

"Well-"

"Have you even seen Akamaru and Kiba, they're roasting for heaven's sake. A thirty minute detour and a five minute talk with Shishou and we'll be fine."

"We can't afford to be late," the puppeteer protested.

"What part of I'm a Medical Ninja and the apprentice of the Hokage do you not understand?!" She started to wave her hands around for emphasis.

"I understand both! But this festival is important, and Gaara needs to be there!"

"So does Hinata. And Ino, and Choji, and Shikamaru, and the rest of the clansmen in this squad!"

"All the more we hurry up!"

"And what?" Sakura shouted, stepping forward and poking her finger into his chest, "Have them all pass out on the stand from lack of water and excessive internal temperatures!"

Kankuro snort, "Yeah rig –"

"It takes hours for the body to cool down once it hits a certain point!" the kunoichi snapped, "It's Karin and Karui's first time being able to stand with fellow Uzumaki survivors! Do you want that to be ruined by them having their eyeballs rolling up inside their heads?!"

"That won't happen!"

"Considering their overall status, it might as well be happening now!"

Karin shot the medic a glare from her slouched position on a nearby boulder. The breeze from the lakes waves was strong there, and it was helping her cool down. It didn't matter if it was near the edge of a cliff, her chakra chains could save her if she fell.

Karui just shook her head, wondering why her heritage was always coming back to bite her in the butt. A fourth, a fourth of that stupid clan, from her father's side, no less, had weaseled its way into her hair, and now she was being claimed one of them.

The Kumo-nin started to mutter profanities towards the long dead village. Omoi inched away from her a bit, leaned towards Samui. The blond just kicked him in the back, and the dark skinned boy stumbled forward. Akamaru caught him, and soon he was chatting away with Kiba.

"You know what?" Kankuro said, glaring down at the girl.

"What?" Sakura spat, she could snap his neck before he even could even summon his chakra strings. He could do _nothing_ to her. _Nothing._

The teen extended his arm, pointing to the rest of their party, "How about they decide."

The group made up of the Rookie Nine, Teams Gai, Hebi, and Samui, the remaining Sand Siblings, and Sai all stared. They'd been listening to the entire conversation, and definitely did don't want to join.

"If we go now," Kankuro started, "we won't be late, you'll have time to cool down, and you won't get killed by Hokage-sama."

"But," Sakura said, shooting him a look that could kill, "you won't cool down in time, and may have to be hospitalized for a day or two. I can take care of Tsunade-sama's wrath, and you'll feel fine."

The shinobi, and few kunoichi, pondered what choice to make, not wanting to evoke Sakura's anger… or Tsunade's. But she was good with the blond, and could calm her down almost as fast as Shizune.

The sound of thundering footsteps broke everyone out of their thoughts, "Hyaaaaaaa!" The ninja turned in time to find a blob of skin, a flash of white, and a blur of green rush past them.

Ino's hand immediately flew to the side of her face, pushing her blond locks out of the way. Samui was struggling with her bangs, as well as Sakura, since her Hitai-Ai didn't hold everything out of her face. Karin spat out a few red strands herself, while poor Hinata's features had been completely masked by her hair.

TenTen, Temari, Karui – yay for hairbands and bandannas! – all blinked, the sound of their lids clapping shut and peeling apart surprisingly loud against the three males shouts of 'roll roll roll roll roll roll!', 'move move move!', and 'I ain't gonna be beaten by a wimpy leaf!'

Suigetsu, Lee, and Choji all burst off the side of the cliff, into thin air, and down towards the water below. Everyone's jaws dropped to the ground as Lee shouted something along the lines of 'Youthful Splash' and Choji preformed an expansion jutsu, tucking his arms in and yelling 'cannonball!' Suigetsu just cackled with glee.

The combined power of all of them hitting the water threw the liquid high up, drenching the people closer to the edge, which happened to be the two female redheads. Karin's face suddenly matched her hair, and before anyone could stop her; she'd jumped off the edge, chains at the ready.

Down below, they could hear Suigetsu's frightened yelp as the girl descended upon him, roaring out his name in anger.

Sakura's head slowly turned towards Kankuro, a grin stretching up her, "Your loss," she said, cackling, "Paint face."

And with that, Omoi and Kiba shot each other feral grins and hurled themselves off the cliff, Akamaru following soon after. Ino raised an eyebrow, "Do you think he's going to choke on his candy?" she asked. Loud choking sounds filled the air.

"Yep," Temari said, popping the 'P.'

TenTen bent over, looking down into the water, "Kiba preformed the Heimlich, too bad."

"I'm telling Omoi you said that!" the Inuzuka shouted up.

"Do I look like I care?!" The brunette screamed back down, dusting her legs off and stutting back over towards the others.

Karui looked down at her drenched clothes and shrugged, "Doesn't really matter anymore, does it?" She grabbed the person closest to her, which happened to be Jugo, and dragged him with her towards the edge.

"One, two –" before the carrot headed boy could even protest that he didn't want to get wet, the kunoichi had swiped his legs out from under him, taken hold of his collar, and pulled him along in her fall, screaming 'beat that, bastards' the entire way down.

TenTen blinked, "Do you think he'll change?"

"The therapy and medical jutsu's are working too well," Samui said, "So he probably won't."

Neji sighed, "What good will come out of this?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Shikamaru shook his head, "None. It's far too troublesome."

Sakura found it the perfect time to release her pent up anger and slapped them both on the back as hard as she could. They flew forwards, Shikamaru slamming into Temari from behind, and all three felt the sweet, solid ground disappear from beneath them.

"Sa-ku-ra!" the blond screeched!

Sakura gave them a sly smile and waved 'ta-ta' to them, "Bye-Bye," she said. Shikamaru couldn't even get out a 'troublesome' before they were falling, Neji muttering what sounded like a prayer and Temari screaming profanities in his ear.

Ino grinned, bouncing up and down on her heels, "Okay, I'm going!" she whirled around, face glowing, "Who wants to join me?"

Everyone blanched….and a second later, the unthinkable happened: Sasuke shoved poor Sai forward.

The ex-ROOT member blinked, "Huh?" Before anyone could explain what just happened, Ino grabbed a fistful of the pale-skinned boys shirt and dragged him to the edge.

She took a breath and leapt, dragging Sai behind her, "Blonds rule, bitches!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, and a few people winced.

"Redheads are better!" Someone, either Karui or Karin – probably Karin, since Karui hated her hair – shouted up.

Sakura turned to her boyfriend, raising an eyebrow, "I didn't think you had it in you."

The Uchiha blanched, "Had what?"

She giggled, "An inner match-maker."

He gave a small snort, "You're confusing me with the dobe."

Sakura rolled her eyes, before furrowing her eyebrows and looking down over the edge. She started mouthing names and number, before stopping and going silent for a few seconds, "…..Where's Naruto?"

Shino, Kankuro, Gaara, Samui, TenTen, Sasuke, and Hinata all looked around them. The Hyuga blinked, "W-Where _is_ N-Naruto-kun?" she asked searching for her boyfriend.

"Did he get left behind somewhere?" TenTen wondered.

Gaara shook his head, "I have felt no sudden spikes of chakra."

"Yeah," Kankuro added, "If that did happen he'd be panicking."

Samui blinked, "Then where is he?" Not even a second after she spoke, a blond blob sped past them.

"Suigetsu!" Naruto screamed, "You don't tie people to tree's, damn it!" Just as he was about to throw himself off the cliff, Sakura grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and whispered something into his ear.

He nodded, turning around and walking up to Hinata. "N-Naruto-kun?" He bent down picking her up around the waist and throwing her over his shoulder. "W-What!" her face went red, "W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-W-What are you doing?!" she shrieked.

The Uzumaki grinned, "Sakura-chan said you needed a bit of help," and he jumped over the side, still holding the madly blushing Hyuga.

Sakura cackled, pumping a fist, "Okay," she said, "Who's going next?"

TenTen shrugged, pulling her scroll off her and dumping them in a pile with some of the others swords. She yanked her gloved and sandals off, stretched, and dived over the edge. Samui sighed, taking her own shoes off before following the weapon mistress.

Shino glanced around, "I do not have to take my clothes off?" he asked, nodding down to the lake, where some of the boys had taken their shirts off. A line of sandals rimmed the edge of the water, and some jackets were already hanging on branches.

Sakura shook her head, knowing Aburame's were sensitive about that stuff, "You don't have too."

He nodded, letting all his bugs out, which made her wince a bit, before stepping out into mid-air and dropping down towards the others. Sakura turned towards Kankuro, "Your turn," she said.

He scowled, folding his arms in front of his chest, "There is no need for me to – KYAAAA!"

Sasuke and Sakura slowly looked over to Gaara, who had thrown his brother over the edge. He sent them a soft smile, before following his sibling. Sakura burst out into giggles, "Let's go, Uchiha-_san_."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and soon, both were diving off the edge.


End file.
